The month of December 2025 witnessed a severe and escalating wave of human rights violations across Iran, characterized by an alarming number of executions, continued suppression of political dissidents, and inhumane prison conditions. Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM) documented at least 376 executions, including 10 women, during this period. The regime’s judiciary intensified its use of the death penalty as a tool of political repression, particularly against individuals accused of affiliations with opposition groups, notably the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
Executions and Death Sentences
The total number of executions recorded for December 2025 reached a shocking 376, including 10 women. This alarming figure underscores the regime’s reliance on capital punishment to instill fear and suppress widespread dissent. The wave of executions continued unabated throughout the month, with numerous individuals being sent to the gallows across various prisons and cities.
For instance, in the first three days of December alone, at least 44 executions were confirmed, including Keyvan Shah Bakhsh (29, Bam), Iman Mortazaei (39, Semnan), Abufeiz Davoudi (Semnan), Hessam Norouzi (Mashhad), Amir Emami (Ghezel Hesar), Ali Kalhor (Gorgan), Mehdi Javanmardi (38, Rasht), Pirvali Sha’bani (Sabzevar), and Yousef Jamshidi (Mehrabi, 22, Bandar Abbas).
Among the victims on December 2, 20 individuals were hanged, including one publicly in Semnan. Some of names included Mohammad Jafar Alinia (Behbahan), Ebrahim Kalagar (Nowshahr), Abbas Mozaffarzadeh (27, Qom), Soltan Morad Nasiri (Esfarayen), Mahmoud Abdollahi (Yazd), Jalal Khorshidi (Yazd), Ali Nirang (Yazd), Mahmoud Nouri (Semnan), Hossein Shafizadeh (Semnan), Gholamreza Bahrami (Semnan), and seven others in Isfahan, among them Shahab Mokhtari, Abdullah Brahui (39, Baluch compatriot), Mehrdad Espid (38), Meysam Panahi (37).
On December 1, 11 prisoners were executed, including Seyed Ali Hajipour (Taybad), Javad Souri (Shahrekord), Tayyeb Minayi (Ahvaz), Nourkhoda Akrami (Qom), Hossein Zamani (Dorud), Sepehr Goodarzi (Borujerd), and Ebrahim Tabrizi (Mahabad).
Later in the month, between December 6 and 10, at least 79 prisoners were executed. On December 10, 23 prisoners were hanged, including Ali Shamloo (Bojnurd), Manouchehr Navaei (Taybad), Yaser Jahan-Tigh (Sari), Kabir Mahmoudvand (Mahshahr), Mohammad Ghahremani (Ferdows), Sasan Sheikhi (Behbahan), Reza Sabzi (Malayer), Nemat Bahiraei (Bushehr), Hasan-Morad Haghi (Damghan), Kourosh Sabzi (Kashmar), Mohammad-Karim Siadi (Shahr-e Kord), Khodabakhsh Elyasi (Shiraz), Soheil Hamidi (Mahabad), Nour-Mohammad Shabani (Sabzevar), and Saeed Khoshkalam (27) and Mehrdad Mirzaei (38) in Rasht.
On December 17, another 13 prisoners were executed, including Mohammad Baghlani (Bushehr), Sajjad Farahmand (Chabahar), Mehrshad Asgari (Damghan), Parviz Shabani (Mashhad), Yarvali Azimi (Kashmar), and Razieh Abbasi (Qezel Hesar), a woman. Between December 13 and 17, a total of 62 prisoners, including three women, were executed.
Political Prisoners Facing Execution
Several political prisoners, many accused of supporting the PMOI/MEK, continued to face imminent execution or had their death sentences reconfirmed during December:
- Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani: A 30-year-old boxing champion and coach from Mashhad, arrested in January 2020 and subjected to brutal torture. His death sentence for supporting the PMOI/MEK was upheld for the third time by the Supreme Court, and his request for a retrial was rejected on December 15. He was transferred to solitary confinement in Vakilabad Prison, signaling imminent execution. The regime even prevented him from attending his father’s funeral, whose health deteriorated from the grief of his son’s death sentence.
- Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi, Vahid Bani Amerian, Mohammad Taghavi, Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar, and Abolhassan Montazer: On December 7, the death sentences for these six political prisoners, all charged with membership in the PMOI/MEK, were reconfirmed. Their retrials on November 16 were reportedly sham proceedings, with individual sessions lasting only minutes. Abolhassan Montazer (66) and Mohammad Taghavi (59) are former political prisoners from the 1980s and suffer from serious health conditions.
- Karim Khojasteh: A 62-year-old industrial machinery engineer and former political prisoner from the 1980s, was notified on December 6 of his death sentence for ‘Baqi’ (armed rebellion) due to his support for the PMOI/MEK.
- Ehsan Rostami: A 36-year-old sociologist and cultural publisher, was charged with ‘Baqi’ on December 10, potentially leading to a death sentence. He was arrested in August with relatives and subjected to inhumane torture. He and his cousin Ramin Rostami went on a 23-day hunger strike. His 63-year-old father, Jahangir Rostami, a retired teacher, was also arrested, severely beaten, and brought before his son with a bloodied face in an attempt to coerce a confession.
Prison Conditions and Deaths in Custody
The regime’s prisons continue to be characterized by deplorable conditions and systematic denial of medical care:
- Female Political Prisoners in Evin: Female political prisoners were transferred to a basement ward in Evin, approximately 40 steps below ground level. This location is described as extremely damp, dirty, and infested with rodents and insects, constituting clear torture, especially for ill prisoners. Among them are Fatemeh Ziaei (68), who suffers from advanced Multiple Sclerosis (MS), tuberculosis, and an internal infection, and Shiva Esmaeili, serving a 10-year sentence and suffering from chronic, severe lower back pain. Both are denied specialized medical treatment.
- Zeynab Hazbeh and Others: Zeynab Hazbeh was sentenced to 15 years in prison and transferred to Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz. Her husband, political prisoner Masoud Jamei, faces two death sentences for PMOI/MEK affiliation. Similarly, Davoud and Saman Hormatnejad were sentenced to 15 and 12 years, respectively, on charges of ‘Moharebeh’ and PMOI/MEK membership.
- Kaveh Ahmadzadeh: Political prisoner Kaveh Ahmadzadeh died on December 9 in Bukan Central Prison due to a cardiac arrest, stemming from a lack of timely medical attention and delayed transfer to a hospital.
- Saeed Masouri: One of Iran’s longest-serving political prisoners, Saeed Masouri, imprisoned for 25 years without a single day of medical leave, was banned from receiving visitors on December 27 by order of the prosecutor, a desperate attempt to break his resistance.
Political Prisoners Mark 101 Weeks of Protest Against Executions Across Iran
On Tuesday, December 30, 2025, political prisoners in 55 detention centers across Iran launched a coordinated hunger strike marking the 101st consecutive week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign. This unprecedented milestone reflects the growing resistance both inside and outside prison walls, coinciding with widespread protests and strikes by merchants in Tehran and other cities. In a statement, the campaign condemned the regime’s escalated use of executions in response to popular dissent, reporting over 96 executions since late December, including a woman in Mashhad’s Vakilabad Prison and two Kurdish political prisoners recently sentenced to death. The prisoners, while extending Christmas greetings to Christians, reaffirmed their commitment to justice and dignity, invoking the words of Jesus Christ to express hope and resilience. Demonstrations in cities across the country echoed the prisoners’ demands, as citizens, students, retirees, and families of victims rallied against judicial violence and the death penalty. The hunger strike underscores a unified call for an end to executions and repression in Iran.
UN General Assembly Condemns Iran’s Human Rights Violations
On December 18, the United Nations General Assembly adopted its 72nd resolution condemning the grave, widespread, and systematic human rights violations by the Iranian regime. The resolution specifically highlighted the alarming, continuous, and widespread use of the death penalty, including executions based on forced confessions, without fair trials, and disproportionately against women, ethnic and religious minorities, and juveniles. It further condemned torture, sexual and gender-based violence, inhuman treatment, arbitrary detentions, and the systematic denial of medical treatment to prisoners. Crucially, for the first time, the resolution referred to the 1988 massacre, emphasizing the continued impunity of its perpetrators and its role in perpetuating crimes against humanity.
Call to Action
Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM) unequivocally condemns the egregious human rights abuses systematically perpetrated by the Iranian authorities in December 2025. The alarming escalation in executions, the cruel treatment of political prisoners, the denial of fundamental rights, and the oppressive policies against workers demand immediate and decisive international action. Iran HRM urges the United Nations and its relevant bodies, the European Union, its member states, and all international human rights organizations to:
- Take urgent action to save the lives of all political prisoners on death row, including Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, Karim Khojasteh, Ehsan Rostami, Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi, Vahid Bani Amerian, Mohammad Taghavi, Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar, and Abolhassan Montazer.
- Strongly condemn the regime’s use of capital punishment as a tool of political repression and pressure for the immediate cessation of all executions.
- Investigate the deplorable prison conditions, particularly the inhumane treatment of female political prisoners in Evin prison and the denial of medical care to critically ill detainees like Fatemeh Ziaei and Shiva Esmaeili.
- Send an international fact-finding mission to visit Iran’s prisons and assess the situation of political prisoners and other detainees.
- Pressure the Iranian regime to adhere to international labor standards and cease its oppressive measures against workers, ensuring their safety and fundamental rights.
